In our preview of Rachel Maddow's broadcast from Denver last night, we noted that she'd touted the show at the Viewhouse Ballpark by noting that the race for Colorado's governor was "off the hook." In the end, though, she spent little time talking about this contest during the highly entertaining program, focusing instead on more Fox News scaremongering, the Democratic party's supposed "secret sauce" and, inevitably, recreational pot. Details, three videos and more below.

Maddow made a very wise choice by choosing as the Denver Post's Lynn Bartels as her Colorado sensei. Bartels is the best political reporter in the state by a very wide margin, and she offered perspective on local politics that only someone intimately involved with it could provide. She noted, for instance, that Republicans believe they've upped their political ground game but aren't revealing specifics, and suggested that Representative Cory Gardner is polling so well against incumbent Senator Mark Udall for the simple reason that he smiles and is pleasant while Udall frequently comes across as a rigid, severe soothsayer of doom.

Maddow with Democratic Congressional candidate Irv Halter.

Such observations helped balance other segments implying that the Dems' glass is more than half full, including an interview with Senator Michael Bennet that suggested current polls showing Gardner beating Udall could well prove just as inaccurate as the ones that had Ken Buck defeating Bennet in 2010. Also a bit dubious was a chat with Dem candidate Irv Halter that portrayed him as having a decent chance to upset incumbent Doug Lamborn in the district that includes Colorado Springs, when his odds are mighty slim. Halter may have raised more money than Lamborn, but that's likely because Lamborn is considered such a shoo-in that there's little need to waste cash.

Megyn Kelly breaks out the air quotes.

Stronger stuff came in the form of a followup to a false claim by Fox News' Megyn Kelly that all voters in Colorado could print ballots on their home computers and then give them to "collectors" to do with what they would. Maddow noted that Kelly has now admitted on-air that this story isn't true but then highlighted a claim by Colorado Secretary of State candidate Wayne Williams that mail-in ballots could be seized in stealthy fashion by "union bosses" who could then fill them out however they'd like. Really.

As for the pot segment, shot at Euflora on the 16th Street Mall, well, who can begrudge a news show a little comic relief?

Look below to see three segments from the show -- those concerning the Fox News claims, Udall's dourness and the Euflora stop.

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Michael Roberts has written for Westword since October 1990, serving stints as music editor and media columnist. He currently covers everything from breaking news and politics to sports and stories that defy categorization.